


The Truth

by tiny-freakin-head (Hobbitfing)



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Drugs, M/M, Multi, No Smut, just fluff and whatnot after the initial kidnapping, no violence, non-con abduction, truth serum cliche
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 12:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11691948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hobbitfing/pseuds/tiny-freakin-head
Summary: BLU Spy gets captured by RED Spy and injected with truth serum. He gets rescued by his Sniper and Engineer, but can he keep his secrets secret?





	The Truth

Taking the other Spy down had been laughably easy—in the RED Spy’s opinion, if you _could_ be taken unawares, you _should_ be taken. He’d disabled the BLU at the end of the day’s battle, when everything was chaos and no one was keeping track of anyone else’s whereabouts. Some teammates, on both teams, habitually showered after the day’s fighting was over, but others—the Snipers and Spies especially—were typically elusive until at least dinner. If he was missed, no one would think it out of the ordinary, not for hours. And that was all the time he needed.

The RED Spy brought his unconscious captive to one of his secret locations on his base and cuffed the BLU to a chair that was bolted to the floor, wrists and ankles, making sure the handcuffs dug in with a certain satisfaction. For good measure, he tied his quarry’s shins to the chair legs, and tied his chest and neck to the back.

Then, it was simply a matter of taking a seat in his own—far more comfortable—chair, lighting a cigarette, and waiting for his foe to recover.

At first all he could do was hear—his own breathing, the faint sound of wind. Then he could smell cigarette smoke, but not the comforting smell of his favourite brand, or the tobacco that his Sniper smoked, but the more unusual smell of his enemy’s cigarettes.

Finally his vision and other senses started to return and he could feel the tight cuffs around his wrists and ankles, tight rope around his calves, his chest, his neck. He knew almost immediately that this was not a situation he could squirm out of. Given a knife, and some time, he could have gotten free, but his enemy was sitting there watching him, and he doubted somehow that he’d left him a knife.

His mouth felt dry as a desert, but he licked his lips and tried his voice anyway.

“Fighting outside of hours is generally frowned upon.” It came out far weaker than he’d intended.

Head propped comfortably on his hand, elbow resting on the arm of his chair, the RED Spy inhaled slowly, breathing smoke in his captive’s face. “Do you see anyone fighting?” he asked in a level, reasonable tone.

“Oh fuck you,” he grimaced. Just because he knew better than to struggle, the RED was going to pretend like this wasn’t an attack? Ugh.

The RED Spy tsked. “Such language. Allow me to make you a little more comfortable, then.” Opening a lacquered wooden case, he produced a glass syringe with a flourish. “A little treat from my Medic,” he explained, squeezing out a little of the clear fluid and tapping the syringe to clear any air bubbles. Setting his half-smoked cigarette carefully in his ashtray, he advanced on his victim.

The BLU struggled then, fought against the binds on his wrists and ankles, nearly choking himself as he pulled away from the chair uselessly. “What is it?” he demanded, his voice a little more shrill than it usually was. He knew begging was useless but he was tempted anyway. Anything to get away from whatever was in that syringe.

“Just something to help you relax,” the RED Spy reassured him—not very reassuringly.

***

Engineer showered quickly, wrapping himself in a towel as soon as he was finished. It had taken him a while—and quite a bit of coaxing and reassurance from his teammates, especially Sniper and Spy, of all people—to convince him to shower openly with the rest of the team, and he still wasn’t very comfortable being nude around so many people at once. Pulling his undershirt on, he frowned, leaning back to peer into the showers. Waiting until he’d caught Sniper’s attention, he waved the Australian over.

Sniper headed over, naked as anything, still dripping. He grabbed his towel and scrubbed his hair til it was slightly dryer. “Need something?” he asked.

Hoping he wasn’t blushing too badly, and trying to keep his gaze above Sniper’s waist—he still wasn’t great at being around a bunch of other nude people as well, especially when most of them were his lovers—Engineer asked, “Have you seen Spy? Since the battle ended, I mean.”

“Nah, but he’s still kinda flighty about showering with all of us,” Sniper smiled down at Engineer, knowing that Engie was very much the same, though for different reasons. Engineer was shy. Spy was a private man who loved to come across as mysterious. “Why, you two have something planned?”

“No, I just...” Engineer rubbed his forearms, where goosebumps had risen. “It’s nothin’.” He smiled, rather thinly.

“What’s wrong?” Sniper frowned. Engineer wasn’t great at lying.

“Just have a bad feeling, ‘s all.” Now Engineer’s grin had taken on an embarrassed crookedness.

“Wanna go look for him?” Sniper suggested, starting to pull on his clothes.

Shooting Sniper a grateful look, Engineer nodded, giving Sniper’s hand a squeeze.

Sniper shrugged. “Bad feeling’s enough for me,” he grinned. “Let’s go by his room first, then we’ll check where we saw him last.”

Engineer blinked at that. His grandfather, Radigan, had always discounted hunches and instincts as unscientific, and he rarely mentioned them anymore. Giving Sniper’s hand another relieved squeeze, he followed his teammate to Spy’s smoking room. There was no point going to ‘his’ bedroom—Spy had never, as far as any of them knew, set foot in his assigned bedroom. It had fallen, along with Sniper’s and Engineer’s, to Scout, who had eagerly snapped up all the bedrooms belonging to people who had other accommodations. Scout slept in his rooms on a rotational basis—when he wasn’t sharing a bed with someone else.

The smoking room was empty, and there was only the faint smell of old smoke. Together they headed out to the battleground. It wasn’t long of looking in Spy’s usual haunts before they found his disguise kit, along with all his cigarettes. Spy would never leave those behind.

Sniper gave Engineer a fearful look when he picked it up, putting the cigarettes back in order. “Christ,” he murmured.

Engineer nodded, going pale. “I know there’s a lot of traffic through here, but can you...track him?”

Sniper frowned, looking around until he found a pair of furrows in the dirt just outside of the building. Clearly whoever had taken their Spy had chosen to drag him instead of carry him over a shoulder. And judging by the pointy Italian shoe imprints digging deep into the earth around the furrows, it was the other Spy who’d dragged him off. Sniper started to jog, expecting Engineer to follow him.

Engineer was breathing heavily before too long—Sniper’s legs were long, and he had less weight to carry—but he kept up with his lover. He didn’t know what Sniper had seen—wasn’t sure he wanted to know, as it was clearly something bad—but he trusted that Sniper knew what he was doing.

Sniper raised a finger to his lips when he heard something ahead of them, holding out a hand to indicate that they should slow down. The two of them crept forwards, listening intently.

“ _Juste quelque chose pour vous aider à vous détendre_.” It was the RED Spy’s voice.

“ _Non_!” the BLU Spy cried. He sounded weak, a little strangled.

Engineer didn’t know what the enemy Spy was saying, but he could tell by the horrified expression on Sniper’s face that it wasn’t good. He crouched by Sniper’s side, waiting for the other man to make the first move. This kind of fighting was firmly within Sniper’s area of expertise.

Sniper motioned for him to stay still for a moment, creeping forwards until he could see through the dusty window. Luckily the sun wasn’t behind them and he couldn’t cast a shadow inside and give himself away. He saw their Spy tied to a chair, being injected by the enemy, struggling weakly against his bonds. This was the best opportunity they’d have, while the other Spy was distracted with the injection. He bolted to the door and kicked near the handle, sure that the Spy would have locked it. It splintered and gave way; most of the wood in these buildings was old and rotting away, thankfully.

Engineer burst to his feet, following Sniper with a whoop. He barely had time to take in the scene before the RED Spy blinked, gave the pair a disdainful look, and disappeared in a puff of smoke in quick succession. Engineer hurried over to his own Spy, kneeling in front of him and looking up at his slack face and unfocused eyes. “Spy, you alright? We’re here, we’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

Spy slumped in his chair, so grateful to have been rescued, even though needing to be rescued was slightly embarrassing. “You came for me,” he sighed. He looked down at the crook of his elbow where he’d been injected, frowning.

Sniper tried to predict where the RED would go, but couldn’t get a grip on the slippery bastard before he was away. He took out his pocketknife and began to cut through Spy’s bonds. He’d leave the metal wrist and ankle cuffs to Engie’s gunslinger.

“’Course we did, sugar.” Engineer didn’t often use such pet names with Spy—Spy didn’t usually tolerate them, at least not unless they were alone, and even then he usually gave at least a token protest—but the endearment slipped out in his concern. Forgetting about the enemy Spy—for now. The important thing was getting Spy out of here; vengeance could come later. He gently rubbed the injection site with his organic thumb. “What did that snake give you?” he asked Spy, before turning to Sniper. “Don’t suppose he dropped the key on his way out?”

Sniper gave him a look, then looked down at his gunslinger. “I was kinda thinking we didn’t need one.” He didn’t say it unkindly, softening it with a little smile, still working on the ropes. At least now Spy could breathe easier, but he was leaning forwards a lot more than he ought to be, as though the ropes had kept him from falling out of the chair.

“...right.” Blushing, Engineer removed his glove and carefully positioned the fingers of his gunslinger so he could break the links without tightening the cuffs on Spy’s already tender wrists. Both short chains gave with a snap that was loud in the quiet room. He’d have to get the cuffs themselves off later, in his workshop, but Spy was almost free. He watched Sniper cut the last few ropes, hoping his impatience didn’t show. He had the attachments on his gunslinger to cut the rope, but with two of them trying to do the same job they’d just get in each other’s way.

Sniper finished as quickly as he could, sensing Engineer’s impatience. Spy nearly keeled out of the chair when he was loose, and Sniper helped him up. The BLU attempted to stand on his own, but he wobbled pretty badly and soon enough Sniper just scooped him up altogether. “There you go, mate, I’ve gotcha,” he promised.

Engineer held out his arms. “If we’re carrying him any kind of distance, I think I ought to take him. You handle his legs.” He frowned for a moment, considering. “I’ve got a dolly back at the shop, but I don’t think I want to wait that long. Best to just carry him, if that’s alright with you.” He suspected he knew the answer already.

“Of course,” Engineer was far more capable of carrying weight than Sniper, no reason to argue about it. He let Engineer figure them out and they got Spy back to their base, double time. He was dazed and oddly quiet, murmuring every now and then, nonsense mostly, explaining things that weren’t quite real.

“What do you think he gave him?” Engineer asked, while he gathered the tools he’d need to remove the cuffs themselves. “Should we take him to Medic?” He was reluctant to do so; Spy didn’t like feeling vulnerable, and Engineer suspected that the fewer people who saw Spy like this, the happier the Frenchman would be.

“I don’t know, he said it was something to help him relax. Not sure what he meant by that,” he admitted. “I think he’d be happier if we just kept him here and watched him ourselves. If it gets worse we can get Medic.”

Spy whimpered a little when Engineer started taking off the cuffs. They were already painfully tight and moving them hurt more. He was starting to feel more lucid, but not quite himself. He felt almost drunk, uninhibited, like he’d lost a few filters between his thoughts and his mouth. He tried to keep himself from talking at all, sure that would help.

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too.” Engineer found himself wishing Spy was less stubborn, but that was hardly a new thought. “I’m sorry, love,” he murmured to Spy, “I’m trying to make it quick and painless, and I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“I know,” he pressed his face into Engineer’s shirt, “you take such good care of me,” he immediately flushed red at that admission.

Sniper couldn’t help a soft smile as he watched Spy curl into Engineer like he was a lifeline.

“I try to,” Engineer murmured, his voice a little choked. He exchanged a brief glance with Sniper, both concerned and touched. He held Spy close and gently stroked his hair through his mask. “Let’s put you to bed, alright? Then we can both hold you.”

“Please,” Spy asked. “I feel ...kind of drunk?” he admitted. Alright, keeping his mouth shut was harder than he’d bargained for. “Like everything’s at the surface.” He looked worried.

Sniper helped Engineer get him to bed, exchanging a glance with the Texan. This might be an interesting night.  
“Well, then it’s a good thing I can’t hear anything tonight, isn’t it? And even if I could, I wouldn’t remember it,” Engineer reassured Spy. They each settled on one side of Spy, cuddling him between them but they could face each other over Spy’s lean body. Spy was sweaty and shivering, despite his clothes and a blanket.

Sniper helped Spy out of his shoes, knowing that he hated being in bed with shoes. He grinned at Engineer’s sweet little lie.

“You’re lying, but I love when you lie,” Spy sighed. “You’re terrible at it and you always do it out of kindness, because you’re so soft hearted,” he smiled a little. His head swam a bit and he closed his eyes so the ceiling would stop spinning. “I love you both.” Ugh, everything was just coming right out of his mouth. He covered his face with his hands.

Engineer blushed. “I—well, I guess I don’t really have anything to say to that, but still!” He kissed Spy’s hand where it covered his forehead, after taking a moment to grin at Engineer over Spy’s head. “We love you too. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll wear off soon.” He was beginning to suspect he knew what the other Spy had drugged him with. “But you’ll be pretty...suggestible...until then. We won’t ask you any questions.”

“Thank you,” he said, his relief audible. He could only imagine what he would have said if that RED had kept hold of him. Suddenly he realized he’d just said that aloud and flushed again. “I keep saying what I’m thinking.”

“Yeah, that’s normal, if this is what I think it is.” Engineer didn’t want to name it in front of Spy, because he knew it would only make his lover more anxious. “We won’t tell anyone anything we hear, will we, Slim? And you know we’re good for our word.”

“Cross my heart,” Sniper said, putting Spy’s shoes on the floor neatly and tucking them back in. He mouthed ‘truth serum?’ over Spy’s head so he couldn’t see it, wanting to check and see if he was thinking the same thing Engineer was. It could be a little daunting, dating a genius. Sometimes it was nice to make sure they were on the same page.

“You are good,” Spy said softly. “What do you think it is?”

Engineer nodded, a little surprised that Sniper knew what it was—he’d have to ask the Australian about his experiences with it later. “I think it’s just...what he said. Something to help you relax.”

“I’d rather not relax... not even with you two,” he admitted, slightly ashamed of the words coming so easily out of his mouth. “I never relax.”

Sniper frowned, kissing the top of Spy’s head. “It’s alright, mate.”

“We know,” Engineer soothed him, swallowing down a grin. It was something he’d discussed with Sniper before, many times. He wondered if Sniper was as curious, as tempted to ask Spy probing questions in his...condition. Probably not, he decided.

Sniper was barely containing his multitude of questions, but Engineer had said they wouldn’t ask any, and he’d go along with that. Otherwise Spy would never trust them again.

“People want that, though, don’t they? Most people? They want to be honest and open with their lovers, they want to ... want to relax with the people they love?” Spy felt like he was babbling but he couldn’t stop. “But I can’t. Do you think I ever will?”

“Maybe most people do,” Engineer said, slowly and carefully, “but...we want you.” He cocked his head so he could see Sniper, who nodded in agreement.

“Even if I’m...” Spy wasn’t sure what word to use. He let that one trail off. Whatever word he found would surely be embarrassingly honest and he didn’t want them to hear his self-pitying garbage. “I wish I could just fall asleep,” he groaned.

“Is there anything we can do?” Sniper offered.

“Even if you’re,” Engineer agreed. “We could give you a massage, or put on some music?” It could be difficult—impossible, on some nights—to get Spy to sleep at the best of times. Now, when he was this stressed about what the drug was doing to him... Engineer suspected they could tell him to go to sleep, with him in this suggestible state, but he didn’t want to take advantage of Spy’s vulnerability, not even for something that might help.

“I don’t know what I want. Except for you two. I love you.” Why was all this emotion coming out so easily?! Oh shit, he’d said that aloud too. Maybe it had been in French. No, he was still talking, and it was English. He finally just clapped a hand over his mouth, turning a bright shade of red.

Sniper tried not to smile at Spy’s odd rambling and complaints. “It’s alright, we understand. And, well, we’re not gonna complain about hearing that you love us.”

“Definitely not,” Engineer agreed. He kissed Spy’s forehead again to hide his grin—Spy was _adorable_ like this, but he could never, _ever_ let Spy know he’d thought it even for a single instant.

They were quiet for a long time, Spy’s hand stubbornly held over his mouth until he faded for a while, eyes half closed, body relaxing. Suddenly he started talking again.

“Do you think we’ll stay together after this is over?”

Sniper was a little startled by the sudden question, and wasn’t honestly sure how to answer it. He wanted to stay with these two, but they were so different, and where would they live? And who was to say they’d all retire at the same time? He sighed. “I don’t know, pet,” he kissed Spy’s ear, getting a squirmy protest from his lover.

“But I want you both as long as I can have you,” Engineer murmured. He tried not to think about _after_ , though his active mind liked to circle back to it when he was distracted.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a real relationship before you two.”

Sniper raised an eyebrow. He knew Spy had plenty of experience, plenty of lovers before this, but he didn’t consider any of those to be real relationships?

Engineer raised an eyebrow, almost a mirror to Sniper. They exchanged a brief, heartfelt glance over Spy’s head. That was one of the saddest things he’d ever heard. Alright, _he_ hadn’t had any relationships before joining TF2 Industries either, but at the same time, he hadn’t had any relationships, and he knew Spy’d had plenty. He wasn’t sure what to say—if he _should_ say anything. He finally settled on, “Me neither.”

“I know _that,_ ” Spy insisted. “But it’s difficult to date when you live in the middle of nowhere, and then when you’re in college and so very far ahead of your peers. And Sniper’s relationships were pretty unusual too, but I know you loved some of your partners,” he stroked his thumb over Sniper’s scarred knuckles. “I love these scars.”

Sniper laughed, Spy was all over the place, it was strange to see him this way. Normally he was so self-assured and kept everything so private. “Yeah,” he kissed Spy’s cheek, nestling into his neck affectionately.

“Thanks. True, but, thanks,” Engineer laughed. He bit back a question about some of Spy’s scars that he didn’t know the provenance of.

“I don’t think I’m able to lie right now, so you’re right to take the compliment,” Spy traced some of the scars on Engineer’s arm, above the Gunslinger, marvelling in them too. He didn’t usually let himself touch them, in case they were too sensitive either physically or emotionally, but he couldn’t help himself today.

Engineer shivered, rolling onto his back so Spy could access his whole arm, letting him explore freely.

Spy’s fingers stroked over every pale pink scar, nudging up against where flesh met metal, laying his head on Engineer’s shoulder.

Sniper watched the two of them with a soft smile, glad to be with them both, and that Spy was safe with them, loopy or not.

“Love you,” Spy said again, quietly.

“Love you, too,” Engineer replied, looking at both of them. He stroked Spy’s hair through his mask, wiping sweat from his brow.

“I feel so ...stupid. I should never have let him... let him capture me,” Spy groaned.

“Wasn’t your fault, mate, you can’t be on guard every second.”

“But I am on guard every second! What good is my paranoia doing me if it’s not actually helping me?”

“You couldn’t have expected him to do that,” Engineer replied, lifting his head gently to shoot Sniper a concerned look. He wasn’t sure how to answer this line of questioning, and he was afraid of the damage a wrong answer might do. “You should be safe here, after ceasefire. This isn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m not safe anywhere,” he protested. “That’s why I don’t sleep in my room. That’s why you can’t always find me. That’s why I have secret places on base. In case.... in case,” he settled on. He didn’t want to say in case they betrayed him. He wasn’t sure he really believed they could, but maybe a tiny part of him did. He needed secrets. “I need secrets. To be safe.”

Sniper stroked the back of Spy’s mask gently, meeting Engineer’s eyes worriedly. “We’ll do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And we know you need privacy, and secrets. It’s ok.”

“I—we guessed as much,” Engineer began, carefully, meeting Sniper’s gaze. “That you have secret places, I mean.” He and Sniper often said, half-jokingly, half-serious, that Spy lived in the ventilation system. “I agree with Slim—we know you need secrets, and we don’t want to take them from you. Not even now, when you might give them to us. Especially not now.” He sighed. “If you do tell us something secret, we want it to be because you _want_ to, not because...anything or anyone forced you to. And it’s ok if you never do tell.” He laughed, a little painfully. “I’m just glad we realized you were missing so quickly today.”

“Lucky for us, Engie had a gut feeling something was wrong,” Sniper gave Engineer’s shoulder a loving squeeze.

“I’m glad,” Spy said weakly. “...What if I can’t tell you my secrets? Not ever? Not because I don’t want to, but because I can’t?”

Engineer blushed again, looking away. Even though his feeling had turned out to be right, he still couldn’t help his automatic ashamed reaction. He gave Sniper’s hand a quick kiss. “That’s alright with me. Slim?”

“Yeah, unless you have a problem with it. And then we’ll help you. Whatever you need, love.” Even if he wasn’t sure there was a way to help Spy through his paranoia, he’d offer Spy just about anything to help him feel better right now.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to,” Spy’s voice broke a little and he buried his face against Engineer’s chest again.  
Engineer nodded, his stubble catching in Spy’s mask as his cheek brushed the top of Spy’s head. “Whatever you need,” he repeated.

Spy pulled off his mask as he felt the soft tug, taking in a few sharp breaths as he tried to calm down.

Sniper took the mask from him, putting it next to the bed. “It’s alright,” he assured him.

“Spy...!” Engineer reached out with his free hand, as if to stop Spy from doing this, but he pulled it away. He shot Sniper a brief, almost panicked look, relaxing again when Sniper simply went along with it. Spy’s face was still buried against Engineer and they couldn’t see it yet anyway.

Sniper shared another look over Spy’s hidden face with Engineer. They’d been doing a lot of these today. “You’re alright. You sure you want your mask off?”

Spy nodded, still trying to slow his breathing down and calm himself. “Sh-should’ve done this... months ago,” he admitted. It was sad that he needed the interference of an enemy to finally show his face to his lovers, but he knew he needed it. That push, to keep him from hiding himself away and never sharing any part of himself.

“Spy, you _shouldn’t have_ anything. Not with us. You should only do what you want to. What you’re comfortable doing.”

“What if my comfort zone is terrible?” he sniffed.

Sniper choked back a laugh at that. “Spy, we all have our own fears and we’re all paranoid about different things. It’s just from the life you’ve lived. We understand it, but if you want to change, or work through something, we’re here. We’ll help.” If they could help him at all, and if Spy could even bring himself to ask for help, that was. It was a nice sentiment but Sniper knew it wasn’t just that easy. Breaking through Spy’s comfort zone even to the point where he’d comfortably sleep beside either of them had taken a very long time. He tended to disappear when he wanted to sleep, even now. They both treasured waking up to find Spy still asleep next to them.

Engineer nodded, swallowing his own laugh. Spy’s comfort zone _was_ terrible. And very, _very_ small. If it in fact existed. “People can change,” he added. “I was...” He cleared his throat. “I was brought up to hate spies, and now look at me.” He gave Spy a brief squeeze as emphasis. “But I’m not saying that you have to change, mind. Not if you don’t want to.”

Spy rolled his head to the side, revealing his face for the first time. “I think I want to.”

“I’m not going to complain about seeing your face. Well, the other...sixty percent of it.” Engineer bit back a grin. He was so glad Sniper was here, that he didn’t have to navigate this treacherous conversation by himself.

Sniper stroked Spy’s face, gently, leaning in to kiss him. Spy wrapped an arm around him and stubbornly wouldn’t let go. Sniper managed to break the kiss and turn his head to the side with a laugh. “Help,” he said, playfully.  
Engineer laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t think I want to.”

Spy let go, flushed both from the kiss and being teased. “If you don’t want a kiss then you don’t get one.” Even though that would really be punishing both of them. Ah, shit, he’d said that part out loud again. He buried his face in his hands.

Sniper just kissed the hands covering Spy’s face. “Poor mate, it’s alright.”

“Well, I want a kiss, even if he doesn’t.” Engineer wiggled his nose between Sniper’s face and Spy’s hand.

Spy pushed Sniper away and gave Engineer a soft kiss. “I get the feeling you’re teasing me, but I can’t quite figure it out.”

“Sorry,” Sniper chuckled. “You’re just bloody adorable right now.”

Engineer started laughing, and for a moment he couldn’t speak. Wiping a tear from his eye, he nodded. “Well, I’m glad you said it, Slim, not me!”


End file.
